Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
General Paxton was promoted to General and assumed the duties of Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on December 15, 2012. A native of Pennsylvania, he graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor and Master of Science in Civil Engineering and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in 1974.
General Paxton’s assignments in the operating forces include Rifle and Weapons Platoon Commander and Company Executive Officer, Co. B, 1
st Battalion, 3d Marines; Training Officer, 4
th Marine Regiment; Executive Officer, Co. G, 2d Battalion, 4
th Marines; Company Commander, Co. L and Operations Officer, 3d Battalion, 5
th Marines; GCE Operations Officer, II MEF, and Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, 1
st Marine Division. He commanded the 1
st Battalion, 8
th Marines in support of operations in Bosnia and Somalia and later the 1
st Marine Regiment.
Other assignments include Company Commander, Co. B, Marine Barracks Washington and Commanding Officer of Marine Corps Recruiting Station New York. He served as a Plans Division Officer, Plans, Policies and Operations, HQMC; the Executive Assistant to the Undersecretary of the Navy; and Amphibious Operations Officer/Crisis Action Team Executive Officer, Combined Forces Command, Republic of Korea.
As a general officer, he has served as the Director, Programs Division, Programs and Resources, HQMC; the Commanding General of Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego/Western Recruiting Region; Commanding General, 1
st Marine Division; Chief of Staff, Multi-National Forces – Iraq; Director for Operations, J-3, The Joint Staff; and Commanding General, II Marine Expeditionary Force and Commander Marine Forces Africa. Most recently he served as the Commander, Marine Corps Forces Command; Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic; and Commander, Marine Forces Europe.
General Paxton is a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry Officer Advanced Course and Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He has also served as a Commandant’s Fellow at the Brookings Institute as well as at the Council on Foreign Relations.